International Press Centre (IPC), and Media Rights Agenda (MRA) have said the N5 million fine levied against Channels Television by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is unfair.
Gatekeepers News earlier reported that the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Datti Baba-Ahmed, while speaking on Politics Today, a Channels TV programme, on March 22, said there is no president-elect because Bola Tinubu did not allegedly meet the requirements of the constitution.
Baba-Ahmed also asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola not to swear in Tinubu as president.
In reaction to Datti’s statement, the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC) petitioned NBC, to sanction Channels TV, and NBC did, stating that Channels TV, through its platform allowed “volatile broadcast capable of inciting public disorder and violating sections of the broadcasting code”.
The Director of the IPC, Lanre Arogundade, and the Director of MRA, Edetaen Ojo in a joint statement on Tuesday, said NBC’s failure to allow Channels TV to put up a defence undermines the credibility and independence of the broadcast media sector.
The statement read, “Assuming without conceding that Channels TV erred in the management of the said interview, it was still pertinent for NBC to have heard their side of the story. In failing to do so, NBC acted unfairly and unjustly as it based its heavy-handed decision on the claims of one side only.
“NBC has in this instance again exercised quasi-judicial powers injudiciously, by constituting itself to the prosecutor and the judge over a case brought before it by a third party. In previous instances, it has also additionally been the accuser.
“We urge NBC to desist from walking this path, which undermines its credibility and independence and weakens the broadcast sector as a result. We call on the commission to immediately reverse the hastily imposed fine and give Channels TV the deserved opportunity to defend itself.”
